A TEACHER cleared of sexually abusing a teenage boy spoke of his anger today after he won a six-year battle to clear his name.

A TEACHER cleared of sexually abusing a teenage boy spoke of his anger today after he won a six-year battle to clear his name.

The case against Anthony McNally, who was suspended on full pay from his school in 1995, was thrown out of the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Mr McNally, 51, can now be reinstated at Woodhey High School in Ramsbottom, near Bury, where he taught English.

He told the M.E.N. he was "very pleased and relieved" by the ruling, but added: "I am still angry that it has taken such a long time and the efforts of a lot of people to come to the point that was blindingly obvious to most ordinary people."

In 1996, a governors' disciplinary panel, made up of a solicitor practising in criminal and family law; a member of employment tribunals; a company director; and a former employee relations manager of a large banking firm; found there had been no misconduct. But Education Secretary David Blunkett stepped in later to order another hearing - a decision reversed by the Appeal Court yesterday.

Mr McNally said: "I was beginning to think there was no such thing as natural justice.

"The judgement of the court confirms the fundamental importance of natural justice to decisions made by governors' disciplinary panels.

"The panel which heard the case against me in 1996 was - to quote Lord Justice Kennedy - 'an impressive and highly qualified panel'."

He added: "The panel considered all standards of proof and considered all the evidence. The panel found me not guilty."

He claimed that a top education official had tried to influence the panel against him.

"I am angry that a high-ranking education official wished to try to influence the panel behind closed doors," he said, "something that any right-minded person will appreciate is unfair and not in a accordance with natural justice."

However, Mr McNally's future is still uncertain. His union is to hold talks with Bury education officials.

"I am not sure of my future," he added. "I have been a long time away from the job I was trained to do and which I love.

"But for now, I am very satisfied at the outcome of the hearing."

A spokesman for the National Union of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, which has represented Mr McNally for the past six years, said: "This has been about fairness towards teaching staff.

"It has emphasised the independent role of governors in setting standards of fair procedures.

"It also demonstrates the dangers when the local authority adopt particular views rather than examine individual cases on their merits."

Bury council said today that officials were considering the Appeal Court judgement and were waiting for further direction from the Secretary of State.